[URBAN NOTE] "Torontoist Explains: The Municipal Land Transfer Tax"

[rfmcdonald]

Torontoist's Neville Park explains, at length, Toronto's controversial municipal land transfer tax. Briefly put, it's one of the few revenue tools Toronto has.

If you ever want to rustle a real estate agent’s jimmies, then all you need to do is mention the municipal land transfer tax. First implemented in 2008, the tax on Toronto real estate transactions is greatly disliked by the real estate industry. But it’s also an increasingly vital part of the City’s precarious budgeting act.

Here’s how the land transfer tax works, why some people are hopping mad about it, and why it’s not going away.

The Basics

Torontonians are occasionally guilty of a champagne taste on a beer budget. Partly it’s because we want expensive, world-class things, like subways, while preserving our storied Orange Order thriftiness. But it’s also because provincial legislation limits the ways the City can raise revenue. Unlike other major North American cities, Toronto is prohibited from taxing income, fuel, or sales; nor can we tax hospitals, school boards, or colleges and universities.

So what can we tax? For those of you just joining us:
•Property taxes;
•the late vehicle registration tax;
•road tolls or a congestion tax;
•parking tax;1
•sales taxes on liquor and cigarettes;
•an “entertainment tax” on the price of admission to venues;
•a billboard tax;
•and the star of today’s show, the municipal land transfer tax, or MLTT.